Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic Party head Pier Luigi
Bersani will need a second primary victory before he can lead
the campaign to succeed Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti.

Bersani won 44.9 percent of the primary vote compared with
35.5 percent for Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi, the closest of the
four other candidates who were vying to lead a coalition of
center-left parties in elections due by May, based on the final
tally of 3.1 million votes. Since Bersani, 61, failed to win
more than half of the vote, he will face Renzi in a second round
on Dec. 2.

“Now we start over again from zero and there is no better
challenge then one when they see us at a disadvantage,” Renzi
told supporters in Florence last night.

Bersani, a career politician who has led the party since
2009, is trying to head off an insurgency by Renzi, 37, who has
blamed party leaders for contributing to Italy’s dysfunctional
political system and economic stagnation. He’s campaigned for a
new generation to take over.

Monti, who was appointed prime minister a year ago, has
said he won’t seek another term. Bersani’s party, which supports
the government, led former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s
People of Liberty by more than 10 percentage points in recent
polls. Bersani is looking to eliminate Renzi decisively in the
second round so he can concentrate on the general election,
where his biggest challenge comes from the anti-austerity Five
Star Movement, which has surged in polling.

Support Rising

“With the PD likely to be the most voted party next year,
those voting today are likely choosing Italy’s next prime
minister,” said Roberto D’Alimonte, a professor of politics at
Luiss University, said before the vote.

Support for the Democratic Party has risen from 23.2
percent in June to 26.7 percent this month, according to polls
by the SWG Institute published Nov. 23. That compares with the
21.1 percent for the Five-Star Movement, led by comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo. Berlusconi, whose party had 15.3
percent, said Nov. 24 he’s mulling a comeback. Last month, he
announced he would not run for prime minister.

Berlusconi’s Return

“The People of Liberty party has suffered a decline in its
image and in polls for the simple reason that I was absent,”
Berlusconi told reporters. Berlusconi may announce a new
political party by Nov. 29, Il Giornale, owned by the Berlusconi
family, reported yesterday.

Also in the primary race were Nichi Vendola, head of the
Left, Ecology and Freedom party, which would get 5.3 percent
support in the national elections, according to SWG. The
remaining candidates were Bruno Tabacci, a Christian Democrat
and former deputy head of the Parliament’s budget committee, and
Laura Puppato, a regional politician from the Veneto region.

Vendola got 15.6 percent of the primary vote, while Puppato
got 2.6 percent and Tabacci 1.4 percent, according to results
posted on the Democratic Party’s website.

While Renzi has already said he would stick to Monti’s
austerity program and economic overhaul, Bersani has stressed
the need to help workers and pensioners suffering from higher
taxes and has signaled he won’t blindly support fiscal rigor
that could further sap growth.

The son of a mechanic who served as development minister
under former Prime Minister Romano Prodi, Bersani has been
reluctant to break the party’s ties with the country’s main
union CGIL.

Bersani’s link with the CGIL “is an organizational
advantage and might well be the reason why he will likely emerge
as the winner” D’Alimonte said. “Still, whoever eventually
wins should seek an agreement with the other one so that the
support the party gained during the campaign is not lost and the
risk of defections is minimized.”

Renzi last night indicated that he was prepared to back
Bersani if he loses the second round.

“The next week we will put our bellies to the ground and
try to beat Bersani respectfully and with loyalty,” he said
last night. “If we don’t, we will remain by his side.”